C172 pilot reported landing in a field after running out of fuel.

Narrative:

Departed from ZZZ to ZZZ1 (pvt.). The mission was to fly a c172 to ZZZ1 to drop off a pilot who ferried a second aircraft back to ZZZ. I was to follow in the c172 that we flew up to ZZZ1 initially. The plane was fueled when I arrived to ZZZ that morning in my car. I asked the ferry pilot how much fuel we had. He said he could touch the fuel; which meant full to me. This c172 was not equipped with side steps and we were in a hurry. I never verified the fuel quantity for myself because the other pilot had already stowed the ladder at the pumps. The ferry pilot flew left seat on the way from ZZZ to ZZZ1. The plan was to siphon 5 gal of fuel from the c172 to be used in the plane being ferried because it was understood that fuel was not available at ZZZ1. Upon arrival we found that fuel was available at ZZZ1 but still elected to drain 5 gal out of each tank of the c172 against my expressed wishes to buy fuel on the field. We started with 3.6 hr of fuel at ZZZ; burned 1.2hr on the trip up; and siphoned 1.0 hours at ZZZ1 for the plane to be ferried. This left me with 1.4 hr remaining in my tanks provided that the tanks were full upon departure from ZZZ. I departed from ZZZ1 15 min behind the ferry flight. Nervous about my marginal fuel level I stopped at ZZZ2 and added 2.5 gal to each tank. Provided the tanks were full upon initial departure from ZZZ; this would have satisfied legal minimum fuel requirements for day VFR. I departed ZZZ2 and continued toward ZZZ. With ZZZ in sight at 3500 feet I experienced a loss of power shortly after pulling carb heat and beginning a descent. With the propeller wind milling; pumping the throttle provided a few bursts of power but soon the engine stopped completely. I went through securing procedures and elected to land in a bean field 5 NM northwest of ZZZ rather than risking an approach to the runway where I'd have likely run out of time and distance. There was no notable damage to the aircraft and I was without injury. I've learned not to take anyone's word for how much fuel is in an aircraft. I should have verified the fuel level for myself before initial departure. In the future I intend to verify fuel quantity of aircraft regardless of the circumstances or time frames. In the interest of making the industry safer; it is important to always keep close track of fuel burn and to never base calculations on figures that haven't been verified personally.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 pilot reported landing in a field after running out of fuel.

Narrative: Departed from ZZZ to ZZZ1 (pvt.). The mission was to fly a c172 to ZZZ1 to drop off a pilot who ferried a second aircraft back to ZZZ. I was to follow in the c172 that we flew up to ZZZ1 initially. The plane was fueled when I arrived to ZZZ that morning in my car. I asked the ferry pilot how much fuel we had. He said he could touch the fuel; which meant full to me. This c172 was not equipped with side steps and we were in a hurry. I never verified the fuel quantity for myself because the other pilot had already stowed the ladder at the pumps. The ferry pilot flew left seat on the way from ZZZ to ZZZ1. The plan was to siphon 5 gal of fuel from the c172 to be used in the plane being ferried because it was understood that fuel was not available at ZZZ1. Upon arrival we found that fuel was available at ZZZ1 but still elected to drain 5 gal out of each tank of the c172 against my expressed wishes to buy fuel on the field. We started with 3.6 hr of fuel at ZZZ; burned 1.2hr on the trip up; and siphoned 1.0 hours at ZZZ1 for the plane to be ferried. This left me with 1.4 hr remaining in my tanks provided that the tanks were full upon departure from ZZZ. I departed from ZZZ1 15 min behind the ferry flight. Nervous about my marginal fuel level I stopped at ZZZ2 and added 2.5 gal to each tank. Provided the tanks were full upon initial departure from ZZZ; this would have satisfied legal minimum fuel requirements for day VFR. I departed ZZZ2 and continued toward ZZZ. With ZZZ in sight at 3500 feet I experienced a loss of power shortly after pulling carb heat and beginning a descent. With the propeller wind milling; pumping the throttle provided a few bursts of power but soon the engine stopped completely. I went through securing procedures and elected to land in a bean field 5 NM northwest of ZZZ rather than risking an approach to the runway where I'd have likely run out of time and distance. There was no notable damage to the aircraft and I was without injury. I've learned not to take anyone's word for how much fuel is in an aircraft. I should have verified the fuel level for myself before initial departure. In the future I intend to verify fuel quantity of aircraft regardless of the circumstances or time frames. In the interest of making the Industry safer; it is important to always keep close track of fuel burn and to never base calculations on figures that haven't been verified personally.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1387558
Time
Date	201609
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuel
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 9 Flight Crew Total 297 Flight Crew Type 152
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue